Utah Hockey Club Places 30 Year Old Veteran Defensemen on Waivers
The Utah Hockey Club picked up Dakota Mermis early in the 2024/25 season, and now, the 30-year old has been placed on waivers after getting into just one game for Utah this season.
Despite a hot start to the 2024/25 campaign, the Utah Hockey Club have slowed down significantly in recent times, with the team finding themselves falling further and further down the standings in the Western Conference.
While some of that has to do with their youth and inexperience, part of it is also on the injuries that have been suffered on the blue line, injuries that caused this team to pick up 30-year old Dakota Mermis on waivers earlier in the season.
Now, after just one game played with the team, they are officially placing him on waivers, first reported by top NHL Insider Elliotte Friedman.
Mermis first appeared in the NHL way back in 2017 after going undrafted, and over that time he's played in a combined 75 games with Arizona, New Jersey, Minnesota and ultimately Utah.
In the one game he's played this season, Mermis went pointless with a -2 differential, and given the lack of production he's had over his career, it's becoming clear that he's not fit to play at the NHL level.
What he does provide however is solid depth, as the team aim to have him reassigned to the AHL's Tucson Roadrunners, and if that happens, they'll certainly be thankful to have him as a depth piece moving forward.
Ultimately though, there's plenty of teams that need this type of depth moving forward, and after being claimed early in the year, there's a chance that he gets claimed again, but for now, it's hard to see it happening given his major lack of production and game time this season.
